What is Notre Dame's new go-to third-and-3 call? Is Cam Williams on schedule? Irish mailbag

New York Times

21 hours ago

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Welcome to the final Notre Dame mailbag of the offseason.
That went quick, didn't it?
You've got a ton of questions on everything from stats to watch, players on the rise and what Notre Dame should do to remember (or forget?) a 20-year anniversary inside the stadium. Let's get to the questions.
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You are unable to see any scores in the upcoming season but want to know if Notre Dame will make the playoff. What is one offensive and defensive stat (individual or team) that you could monitor that would tell you that they had a 'successful season'? — Alex S.
I'll take yards per play allowed on defense for starters. Notre Dame finished 11th in this category last season, and six teams ranked better than the Irish made the College Football Playoff (Ohio State, Indiana, Texas, Tennessee, Penn State and SMU). Alabama (No. 9) and Ole Miss (No. 4) almost made the CFP. Hilariously, Northern Illinois was tied with Alabama in that ninth spot. If you keep the yards down consistently, you're probably keeping the points down and forcing plenty of turnovers along the way. Turnover margin feels too fluky to feel controllable, but the top four Power 4 programs in turnover margin last year all made the CFP: Notre Dame, Clemson, Indiana and Arizona State. But Ohio State was 50th, so this isn't a make-or-break stat.
Offensively, if CJ Carr finishes in the top 20 in passer efficiency, Notre Dame is heading back to the CFP and probably doing some damage. Last year's top five were Jaxon Dart (Ole Miss), Kurtis Rourke (Indiana), Will Howard (Ohio State), Cam Ward (Miami) and Shedeur Sanders (Colorado). All got drafted. Fair warning, Sam Hartman finished No. 15 two years ago. He wasn't a CFP-level quarterback, but the targets available to Carr (or Kenny Minchey) should be much better.
Third-and-three … what's the play call this year? In that same vein, what were some of the most predictable yet successful situational plays (ex: Riley Leonard zone read inside three yards) you remember from your time on the beat? — Jonathan G.
This is one of the biggest questions facing Mike Denbrock in training camp. And I'm not sure he has the answer quite yet. That's fine, by the way. It's still July.
My hunch is Notre Dame should be efficient in the short passing game in that kind of set, perhaps with CJ Carr in empty and Jeremiyah Love split out. In theory, that gives Carr a clean look at the field and puts Love into a mismatch with a linebacker or reserve defensive back. Eli Raridon would be a tough cover for any linebacker. Malachi Fields should give you a back shoulder/jump ball option if the matchup is right. There's the threat of jet sweeps with Love or Jaden Greathouse. Basically, you've got a ton of options but need the quarterback to pick the right one.
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Does any of that feel as reliable as running Leonard on third-and-short? Absolutely not. He was close to automatic. And if he got stopped, he had at least turned third-and-three into fourth-and-one. Just run Leonard again and move the chains.
Leonard finished last season with 30 third- or fourth-down conversions with his legs. Jaden Greathouse was the only other player on the team to hit double figures with 13 (six of those came against Penn State and Ohio State).
You previously opined that Notre Dame's first game of the season is a barometer of what's to come. Given a new quarterback and new defensive coordinator, will that prove true this year? And where do you expect to see the biggest evolution from September to November? — Eric D.
Ah yes, the Harbinger Theory. For those who don't know, I believe Notre Dame's first game usually tells the tale of the season. It's been around so long that I actually asked Brian Kelly about it in a press conference once. Not sure he agreed with my hypothesis, but that was a long time ago.
And for the record, Marcus Freeman is 2-for-3 with the Harbinger Theory. His opening game at Ohio State pretty much nailed that team's better-than-expected defense and offense that had to work for everything. Last season? Elite defense, run-first offense, rudimentary passing game at Texas A&M. Pretty much held up until the second half of the Penn State game, the 59th quarter of the season. On paper, Freeman's second team blowing out Navy in Ireland felt like the exception, yet that offense blew out every overmatched team it played and struggled with bigger games. So maybe that qualifies under the Harbinger Theory.
Regardless, I expect what Notre Dame shows at Miami to be a long way from what the Irish show in November when the regular season wraps up at Stanford. But I don't expect defensive coordinator Chris Ash to have much to do with that change. Notre Dame's defense should be better at the end of the year than the beginning, but that growth arc probably doesn't match the potential progress of the pass game.
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Any update on Cam Williams' development? It's concerning to see a Top 100 receiver recruit not be mentioned for playing time increases in his second year. Getting shades of Jordan Johnson and am hoping that's not the case. — Christopher D.
Notre Dame's aggressive pursuit of receivers in the transfer portal the past two offseasons, taking five at the position, says at least something about where Williams is in his development. Does Notre Dame get that bold in the portal if Williams has shown flashes of Michael Floyd or Golden Tate? Probably not. But there's a big difference between not seeing Williams as an impact player now and giving up on him entirely. It's way too early to think about Jordan Johnson, who'd already transferred by this stage of his career and never caught on elsewhere.
The hope for Williams at Notre Dame probably resembles the career arc of Miles Boykin, who took a redshirt as a freshman, made six catches as a sophomore and made 12 catches as a junior. Then he broke out as a senior, went in the third round and has banked about $7 million in the NFL during the past seven seasons. Is Boykin an exception to the rule? Yes. That doesn't mean Williams can't be another one.
Context might help here, too. For the sake of comparison, look at the top 20 receivers in the 247Sports Composite last cycle. Williams was No. 12. Just seven of those wideouts finished last season with double-digit catches, and four of those were five-star prospects: Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State), Cam Coleman (Auburn), Ryan Williams (Alabama) and TJ Moore (Clemson). You'd be hard-pressed to name the other three: Ryan Wingo (Texas), Bryant Wesco (Clemson) and Dre'lon Miller (Colorado).
Maybe Williams just needs more time to develop. Maybe Notre Dame recruits over top of Williams with this freshman class and the one coming next year. A good season for Williams this fall is probably getting on the field and showing he can handle the offense. Remember, he's still got four years of eligibility to prove he can play. There doesn't need to be a rush. But there does need to be some progress this season.
Can you do some digging about the logistics of the NYC trip for the few Notre Dame players and Marcus Freeman? How do they determine which shows they appear on? Are these paid appearances or does Notre Dame set the interviews? — Clay E.
Notre Dame did something similar the past two years by taking Freeman and players to New York in late summer. It's a dead sports time, save for conference media days, which obviously Notre Dame doesn't fit into the program's schedule. The Irish basically fill a vacuum in the sports calendar while also getting national television spots in a way other programs don't (or couldn't). Last summer, the players attended a performance of 'Hamilton.' In addition to Riley Leonard and Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame brought Jordan Clark last year and did an ESPN segment with his dad, Ryan Clark.
Obviously, NBC is a friendly outlet to Notre Dame, with some of the interviews last season focused on promoting the Peacock documentary. Notre Dame's story is more mainstream this summer coming off that run to the national championship game. 'Good Morning America' is an ABC property, and that network will broadcast Notre Dame-Miami next month. Basically, there's a lot of mutually beneficial reasons to do these interviews, for the networks, for Notre Dame, for the players. And you get a free trip to New York without having to fly like the rest of us on commercial. The players have done Yankees games, Mets games, etc.
Typically, if you're willing to bring the talent to the studio, the network is going to put that talent on air, especially if it's a coach with the current appeal of Freeman.
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With this year being the 20th anniversary of the Bush Push game (I was a sophomore in '05 and it still traumatizes me), does the school have any plans to commemorate this or just ignore it entirely? — Tae K.
I contend the landscaping teams at Notre Dame should let all grasses around campus grow to knee height, considering they can't do it in the stadium anymore. I mean, it's pretty obvious USC would have blown out Notre Dame in the game if it wasn't for the long grass, right? Right?
But seriously, if there ever was a moment to bring back those '05 green jerseys, this is the time.